There were some exclusivity announcements that made me a little upset. Phoenix Point, because of what it meant (I was a backer, and because I followed the creator's work for 30+ years). Operencia, because I was a beta tester.
This one is sooooooooooooooooooo stupid, my only reaction to this was like... ok?
Yeah, it's bizarre how video games companies really think they can pull anything, and get away with it.
Sadly, in a way they can, because some people act like they can't live without playing a particular game, and will cave to this.
Ideally, people would vote with their wallets, and punish companies that "abuse" their potential customers, and reward those who don't.
This is such a bizarre move. Removing a game from a store, after it's been sold for months, to make it available only at the EGS? And lose some long-term sales, on a platform where the genre does well?
Anno is the kind of game I would eventually purchase, probably even pre-order it.
But, this news just make me... shrug?
Really, it doesn't even upset me in any way.
It's like Ubisoft is telling me "you have to buy the game until "x" date, after which you will no longer be able to buy it on your platform of choice", and I'm like... no thank you.
One of the foundational things you'd learn in any business or marketing school is the importance of brand loyalty. Which means Ubi should know A) what kind of loyalty Steam has and B) how important their image rehabilitation was, and that it's really probably not worth throwing that away for some EGS downpayments that could dry up in a few years.
Clearly, these people skipped a few lessons on marketing school. Or business school.
No one thinks about anything other than short term returns.
What's bizarre is that, on an industry that feeds on our disposable income, this... seems to work?
I mean, if you buy a food brand, and they tell you "we'll be doubling the price!", or "you have to go to this particular supermarket, or else you won't buy our products", everyone would simply skip them. But, with video games, people cave in. It's like there's some sort of addiction at work.
I'm from a business background, and all this is really bizarre to me. I had companies that were clients at my company for 20+ years, leave for reasons like paying 5€ more monthly. It's really strange how these companies pull the most appalling, customer unfriendly moves, and get away with it.
i really REALLY hope they won't do that ...
You know what, lashman, I usually agree with you, but this time I really can't.
Playing nice doesn't work in business. It's as simple as that.
Valve probably won't do anything, but they really should.
They should, at least, do something similar to what other platforms do: a game can only launch on Steam if it's released at the same time as other stores, or before "x" amount of time has passed between the launch at another store.
Valve's leadership really needs to step up, and project an image of strength to the outside.
Otherwise, they are going to take a hit.
metacouncil.com
